The Ninja Academy Was a Necessary Step

Kurenai, who knew Aoba well, could naturally hear the perfunctoriness in his words.

But whether it was height or fighting ability, she was basically no match for Aoba. Every time she went to complain to their parents, both Father and Mother took Aoba's side.

In the end, she often surrendered under the temptation of Aoba's candy.

Kurenai secretly resolved to learn powerful ninjutsu, defeat Aoba, and take all his candy for herself.

"All right, hurry up and eat breakfast. Don't be late on your first day."

Aunt Nadeshiko brought out breakfast.

After breakfast, the three of them left the house together and headed toward the Ninja Academy.

Since it was their first day at the Ninja Academy, parents accompanied their children.

As for Yuhi Shinku, he naturally returned to continue his mission.

Though it was a Ninja Academy, it was still a school. Stepping into one again as a student felt rather strange.

The first day of school naturally called for an opening ceremony.

The so-called opening ceremony was simply two or three hundred freshmen lining up on the field by height and listening to the Hokage speak.

"Where the leaves of Konohagakure dance, the fire lives on without end..."

Although it was also Aoba's first time seeing the Hokage in person, Sarutobi Hiruzen, dressed in his Hokage robes, was undeniably charismatic.

His warm smile made people feel as though they were basking in a spring breeze.

A true leader.

He had stood onstage and spoken for a full two hours without even pausing. At his age, with such stamina, Aoba truly admired him.

Because ninjas spent years fighting and extracting chakra, most of them aged quickly. Once they passed their physical prime, their strength declined rapidly.

Aoba was among the older students of his year, and since he had never deprived himself when it came to food, he was relatively tall among children his age. He was placed directly toward the back.

Even standing in the back, Aoba listened attentively. He did not use the Chip to slack off or anything; there was no need. Though this was not a private meeting, it was still his first time seeing the leader. There were surely quite a few Anbu nearby.

Listening carefully did not necessarily mean the leader would care, but failing to listen might get him marked down by the Anbu, especially when he was already under "attention."

After all, ninjas had all sorts of strange investigative methods. Who knew which Anbu might "see" through him? He was naturally part of the Hokage's faction, so there was no need to leave a bad impression on the leader over something like this.

Besides, Will of Fire was a required Ninja Academy subject. Since the Hokage himself was teaching it, it was certainly "better" than what the academy taught, and a perfect score was Yuhi Shinku's only requirement for Aoba.

After the opening ceremony ended, they left in an orderly manner under the teachers' guidance and returned to their respective classrooms.

Only then did Aoba discover that he and Kurenai were in the same class. Since he had been admitted through a supplementary enrollment list, his class had only been assigned after formal enrollment.

After all that, he still ended up in the same class as Kurenai. This was a genuine Elite Class.

Most of the important characters who would appear in Konohagakure over the next twenty years were basically in this class.

"Was it a coincidence? Or the inertia of the plot?"

The former would be fine, but if it was the latter, some of his plans might need slight adjustments.

Just like in the anime, the classroom had a tiered layout, with three students to each desk. Aoba had been near the back of the line, yet he was the first to enter the classroom.

He glanced around. The seats were empty, with no name tags or anything similar. It seemed that students chose their own seats early on. Not wanting to stand out, Aoba quietly sat in the second-to-last row and claimed a seat for Kurenai as well.

As for why not the last row, it was because the last row had no backrests.

"Hello, may I ask if anyone is sitting here?"

A little boy with a red strip hanging from his nose walked up to the desk and asked.

Mm, not bad. He was quite polite, suitable for being a desk mate.

Some students in the front had already started arguing over seats. After all, the front rows were closer to the teacher and made it easier to hear the lessons.

"There's still one seat available."

"Thank you. My name is Namiashi Raidō. Please take care of me."

The moment Aoba heard the name Namiashi Raidō, his eyes lit up.

Because if he had guessed correctly, Namiashi Raidō should be assigned to the same team as him when the classes were divided.

The original story even gave the two of them an extremely well-coordinated combination ninjutsu.

"No need to be so polite. I'm Yamashiro Aoba."

Aoba replied with a smile.

Before long, Yuhi Kurenai entered the classroom as well. She naturally walked over to the empty seat beside Aoba and sat down.

Aoba then introduced Namiashi Raidō to Kurenai. They were desk mates, after all.

"Hello... I'm Yuhi Kurenai."

"I'm Namiashi Raidō. Please take care of me, Yuhi Kurenai!"

At this moment, Kurenai was timid and shy, completely unlike her usual lively self. Aoba knew she simply had not adapted to the new environment yet. Once she got used to the school atmosphere, she would be no less wild than the boys.

As students continued filing in, the seats quickly filled up. With an assistant teacher stepping in, the seating issue was soon resolved.

As the class bell rang, a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties appeared at the classroom door.

The middle-aged man wore a stern expression, and a scar ran across his face, making him look exceptionally fierce.

As the man stepped into the classroom, the entire room seemed to have been muted. He walked to the podium and swept his gaze across the students. His vicious eyes made quite a few lower their heads, not daring to meet his gaze.

The man tapped the blackboard, drawing everyone's attention, then picked up a piece of chalk and wrote a name on the board beneath the students' watchful eyes before introducing himself.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Ishihara Araki, and I am the homeroom teacher of your Freshman Class 1. I am a kind teacher and do not like physically punishing students. If you do not behave, I will still teach you pleasantly. I do not like criticizing students, so I hope everyone will cooperate with one another."

As he spoke, he gave the students a rather "kind" smile, making many of them suck in a cold breath.

"Hey, hey, hey, isn't this a bit too much..."

Aoba was somewhat speechless. If he had not imagined it, that had seemed like killing intent just now.

He had felt something similar around Uncle Shinku. Sometimes, for the first few days after returning from a mission, that faint killing intent would linger around him.

Whenever he got close to Uncle Shinku at those times, the auxiliary Chip would beep incessantly in his mind.

Teacher Araki's killing intent was more like an aura released in conjunction with chakra. It was not directed at anyone in particular, so it had not triggered the Chip's reaction, but after so much exposure, Aoba could still sense it himself.

But those who had never experienced it had it a little rough.

A good example was Sasuke encountering Orochimaru during the Chunin Exams in the original story. He was directly overwhelmed by killing intent and froze stiff.

Teacher Araki had truly been on the battlefield. He had probably become a schoolteacher only after retiring due to injury. When he entered the classroom earlier, Aoba had noticed that his left and right legs were slightly uncoordinated. He had probably been fitted with prosthetics.

"Looks like the Third really valued this class, sending an old soldier to be its homeroom teacher. Was he afraid they wouldn't be able to keep it under control..."